Listening to ...

I crave potato salad!

Me: You won't get mad at me if I eat all the potato salad?
Husband: No.
Me: Everyone has their weaknesses...you like vodka, I like potato salad.
Husband: It's kind of the same thing, Dear.
Husband: I'm a meat and potatoes man.

🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

-----Pesto Potato Salad with Roasted Red Peppers
-----Chipotle Red Pepper Potato Salad
-----Fingerling Potato Salad with Roasted Red Peppers
-----Garlicky Roasted Potato and Bell Pepper Salad

I have a growing potato salad board over on Pinterest.

Here we have a potato salad and traditional meat loaf Husband and I made during a The Joy of Cooking cook-through project. This dish was about a decade ago, so I'd have to pull my current copy of the book ... but that potato salad look like it has dill pickles and bacon.

Here is Red Potato Salad with Whole-Grain Mustard Dressing (2017). We had tons of red onions in this. If I pick up storebought potato salad for a side or spontaneous picnic, red skin is always my first choice(often sold out).



-----Hot Potato Salad. I made this one Summer 2020.
Taste of Home. I love it for comfort foods. :-)
The ingredients add plenty of flavor. The instructions about making sure to stir often and boil a minute are spot on ... it tried to stick right away when the boil started. I used raw apple cider vinegar with "the mother" and think that was an excellent choice for this recipe. Some who tried it felt it could use more salt. I did not have bacon but used mild Spanish paprika ... so there's that. I often use a smoked paprika for bacon taste but couldn't find it among moved spices. I will be repeating and experimenting with this side. I think pepper bacon that might work excellent for this!!!
-----Creamy Dijon-Dill Potato Salad. We had this in 2013 but were out of onions at the time ... the recipe includes red onions. Pretty good. Vegetarian.

Recipes
-----Honey Nectarine Muffins
-----Banana Bread Pancakes

Festival of Lights
Hanakkuh begins Sunday, November 28 at sunset.
Hanakkuh ends ends Monday, December 6 at nightfall.



Nikolaustag (St. Nicholas Day)is December 6.
St. Lucia Day is December 13.
Jewish Winter Solstice Tales



55 days until Christmas.
"The first recorded date of Christmas being celebrated on Dec. 25 was in 336, during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine."
Christmas is my favorite holiday ... memories of all the care and tradition that my father put into it. When my husband repairs our light strings to do "stringing up the lights" it makes me happy for our family.



January Three Kings Day/Epiphany is January 6. The 12th day of Christmas.

Teppanyaki Steak and Scallops. One person's process for making a Japanese steakhouse-style steak and scallops dinner on the backyard grill. Yum! :-)
With plenty of tips for setting up temperature zones.
~~ I like the seasoning of one cooking oil with another. I keep primarily La Tourangelle artisanal oils for this.
~~Japanese Steakhouse Golden Shrimp Sauce.Kind of like what steakhouses serve for the shrimp appetizers. Described as sweet with a bit of "heat" on the end.
~~A simple ginger dipping sauce ... whirled up in the blender.
~~Perfect fried rice. This is a place where both a salty baste and a sweet baste comes in.
~~Slotted griddle turner spatula. I must replace that among my grill set.
~~VEGGIES :-)
~~Scallions are my thing!
~~Scallops used to be SO expensive here but now are becoming within the price range of the common man. I am looking forward to trying a cook ... vs. watching Gordon Ramsay.
~~ Prep! Timing!
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(I didn't pick the thumbnail ... sigh.)

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Certified Angus Beef
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Appetizers

A new word ... Québécois.


We are looking at holiday foods around the world using the Voyager section of Google Earth. :-)
I like the sentimentality of this one!

And here is Quebec:

Nice footage of plankton, too. The giant eagle rays weigh more than a ton.

Topics at our house:
-----The Punic Wars ... there were 2. This was Hannibal and the elephants, if you don't rememember.
We are moving on to talking about unconventional animals in the history of warfare. Next we will talk about bats ... bats of war.

-----The changing image of what dinosaurs looked like. Science over the years, as seen through art and illustration.

The painting was called "The Country of Iguanadon." By John Martin(1837)

Games we are playing:
-----Playing Reversi/Othello. (free online)

Marge: You... you speak English?
Kang: I am actually speaking Rigelian. By an astonishing coincidence, both of our languages are exactly the same.
— The Simpsons

"What David Bowie Knows"

by Standard Butterfly Wings(me)

Dragged through tunnel of illusions.

Vibrancy ceased.

A hand extended rough and false.

A hand extended rough and false.

Needs to ignore.

Oh, the places we will go.

Needs to ignore.

Needs to ignore. Tears postpone, hide, store.

And I will have more labyrinth survival skills than Bowie.

Photo- 2009. Unknown use for the labyrinth.
Poem- 2013
David Bowie passed away in 2016.

-----Getting a tattoo on a cruise ship ... that's kind of a cool adventure.
-----Dwayne Johnson’s Biggest Tattoo Is Also the Most Meaningful
-----Adam Levine shows off striking butterfly neck tattoo: 'When Instagram goes down ... tattoo your throat'

-----Crispy Smashed Brussels Sprouts. Those are different.
-----Luciano Monosilio’s Carbonara - Carbonara By Rome’s Carbonara King

-----A Chinese Pot Roast for the oven that I want to get around to making. And a slow cooker Chinese Pot Roast (which I will probably get to sooner).
-----Apple and Onion Beef Pot Roast. This includes an apple gravy.

Husband made this little guy that lights up. For a friend who likes the movie Critters.
From Critters 2 ... he doesn't have the same teeth as the original.

Husband: He's so cute. You can style his hair. He's adorable.
Another friend's response: He and I have a different definition of adorable. LOL!!!

-----Mushroom and Garlic Chicken Chow Mein. A few ingredients I needed for an adaptation will arrive soon ... so this one is on our menus. :-)

Misc. on my mind
-----Mexican Cabbage Roll Soup. Taste of Home. This has a freeze option. I might play with spices and the order of the recipe.
-----Chipotle Chicken and Vegetable Soup
-----Authentic Thai Fried Rice. Street Food-style!
-----Saucy Mushroom Salmon with Spinach and Tomato Orzo. That looks colorfully yummy. I might try it with vegetarian modifications.



This is a Salmon Baked In Cream with Sweet Bay, Thyme and Savory that I made for husband as part of late Valentine's (2016). He said it was the best fish I'd ever made him. Husband liked rice side to be plain at the time.
I looked up the recipe used ... dill is the standard vs. savory. :-)

We've also liked:
~~~ Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce from Swanson. One skillet dish that utilizes white wine. It was the first time we used fish stock.

And we liked:
~~~ Roasted Curry Salmon with Tomatoes from Real Simple. Pardon the lighting on this one.

SPOOPATHON

"...you are trapped in a haunted house. The only way out of the haunted house is through reading prompts."

I decided to be on this TEAM because I might want to make my journey more suited to me ... I'm like that sometimes. :-)
"The team with the most points at the end of the readathon become haunted house royalty."
Now on to the starting prompts ...

I picked a book with a black cover. This novella was the inspiration for the movie The Shawshank Redemption. This standalone is just 144 pages ... it made for an interesting and quick start to the month-long readathon that I found late. :-)

And then I find that I have read the actual book (but loved the reread). I've read a lot and this happens a lot. I really do need to start a database. What are your reading pet peeves??
This novella has awesome last few lines. :-) They just make me happy.
FINISHED

This loosely goes along with the book plot. I love the song!



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And the next prompt ...

This is also a re-read but I am much fuzzier on the details to this one. Nazi-occupied Holland, crime and a doppelgänger.
This book is compared to Camus! I am on page 13 of 421. Thus far, several characters are disturbed/dysfunctional/messed up.

Sunday Stealing meme

THIS SIDE OF THE POND

1. What's something you've recently accomplished solo?
Well, I attempted to get my long unused calligraphy pens working. I found, after inking up four pens, that I most of them take a non-standard ink tube. Then everyone started giving me advice as I got a bamboo pen to actually take the ink ... I didn't mind that but did get a bit peeved when I started getting advice on how to operate the pen. I was all like "I KNOW how to do calligraphy!' Then I found that I am slightly and/or actually allergic to this particular ink. I did get a couple of lines of text out after all that.
An in-progress is learning the lyre harp. :-) It's not easy to find quality instructionals for.

2. What's one product you use that never ever fails?
My shampoo and conditioner costs a combined $99. That seems like a lot to me. Nanoworks Gold Shampoo and Conditioner Duo. I was given it by a review company. Very, very sensitive to dry skin, allergies, etc. Very, very natural. The shampoo seems like it is purely clarifying at first but then the conditoner makes the day. No buildup. Hardly any sensitivity if in eye but some. People sell the unopened bottles for ridiculous amounts.

3. Have you found your place in the world? Where is it?
Well, yes. But it is complex and private (and yet so simple). Good luck on your journey!

4. Worst movie you ever saw? ever?
Spice Girls or the Miami Vice movie.
Oh, and we walked out of the second Legally Blonde movie.

5. What's the last fun thing you did?
Reorganizing a desk drawer and my fave book shelf ... hey, you have your fun and I have mine. MY fave bookcase has 18 shelves.
Playing sock football indoors with my husband. Tossing a military-style rolled sock ball and running around. I have a thing for football back before it got to be such a contact sport ... like the kind kids used to play in any empty lot.

6. What's your favorite Italian dish?
I make a lot of Bolognese here. I keep jars of capers on hand for Spaghetti alla Puttanesca ... and sometimes add the anchovies like they do in Lazio. If ordering pasta, De Cecco is one of my fave brands. Anything from the Roland Foods catalog (imported from many countries,founded in France) is usually a good compliment ... pesto, olives whatever.
For dream dining out stateside, I'd sup at Sinatra in Las Vegas ... followed by some show of epic proportions. I definitely try the homemade meatballs and polenta fries as a antipasti. :-)
I love learning about the foods made in the countryside of Italy and all the tomato stuff from Calabria in Southern Italy.

7. Have you ever been to France? Any desire to visit there, and if so what would site or city would you most want to see?
I have not been there but have a loved one who really, really wants to go. We'd see as much of the workings of the Eiffel Tower as could be viewed and I would want to see anything to do with literature, movies, poets. Jim Morrison's grave. The place where Voltaire drank so many cups of coffee. Quasi-related, I would LOVE to make my way to St. Helena, in the South Atlantic, where Napoleon was exiled to.

8. Have you ever been to Disney, any of the parks at all? Are you a Disney superfan or something less than that? They're open right now so tell us, would you go if you had the time/money/a free trip?
I have been. I'd like to run/visit during Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend ... "the most magical running weekend ever."

9. Your favorite place to go when you want to be quiet as a church mouse? Would those who know you well describe you as more church mouse or perhaps more like mighty mouse?
Generally, I am pretty energetic. I dance A LOT. When I want to be quiet, that is reading or listening to music(which could include lots of LOUD music, depending on mood). Along the quiet side, I am reading a book about a year in the life of a Shinto shrine. 

10. Do you bake your own bread? Last time you had hot out-of-the-oven homemade bread? What's your favorite kind of bread?
I've been known to make various quick breads in my mother's bread pans from when I was growing up. I do a lot of old-fashioned desert bread stuff. I have bits and pieces of bread-making knowledge and one day that will be the whole puzzle.

11. What's something you might say is 'the greatest thing since sliced bread'?
I've known plenty of people who were born BEFORE sliced bread. :-) Those people!
Besides, that ...
~~~ Simple equipment for Astrophotography!
~~~ The invention of digital cameras and computers.
~~~ Things that help you slice, not mutilate, cake layers. Husband's response to me reading my answers: "Sliced cake. Hey??! That's better than sliced bread, you're right."

12. Share with us five little things you're grateful for today. Small blessings. One catch-they all must start with the letter T.
Taste of Home magazine, tea kettles that whistle, tapes from long ago (okay, so New Kids on the block just came out of storage), tieback tassels for drapes, tomatoes with peppers(Ro-Tel and others).


13. Tell us where you were and something about what life was like when you were 20- 21.
I walked so many places on little adventures that I cherished. I had a simple glass of wine to commemorate the 21 milestone.

14. What's on the menu at your house this week?
Continuing to sample the Halloween treats (includes healthy snacks). I've cases of beans for Fall soups and I'm making a bunch of curries sometime or other this next month. Maybe experimenting with the dehydrator. Comfort foods from an old Taste of Home issue. Dutch Split Pea Soup. Using up a bunch of onions ... roast in my early Christmas present crockpot (the one from when we first got married, couldn't stand one more repair).

15. Something you recently purchased where a coupon was involved? Do you regularly shop with coupons?
A lot of companies choose not to be "participating locations" around here. Off the top of my head, I used a coupon code for some pantry cabinets.

You can participate in this meme HERE. :-)

Topics At Our House Today

-----What if Saturn 5 had exploded?



-----Why did the space shuttle program end? (Newsweek article from May 2020 when there was about to be historic SpaceX launch)

Predatory Fins has sturgeons for sale on their website. Albino and diamonds.
The question here was:
Are they related to sharks?
Answer:
Apparently not, though a lot of people wonder that. They have cartilage. Sturgeon migrate back and forth between salt and fresh water.
Further question:
Are they ancient like sharks?

Topics at our house today:
-----What if Japan hadn't attacked Pearl Harbor?
----Why some humans developed a taste for milk and some didn't?
----What if Deadpool became a vampire?

FrightFall!!!

And so it begins. This is my first read for the readathon that I joined this morning.
Actually, I've read this before but it was recently taken out of storage. I think there is at least one point where I was truly concerned if the characters were going to make it out in the original read ... who knows, maybe they don't-it was that long ago that I read this. The book came out in 2001.
Stephen King spoke highly of several of the author's previous works. I have also seen Dean Koontz refer to another of this author's books, The Walking, as unusually clever.

I am on page 32 of 438.

You can sign up for the readathon HERE. It is one that has an opportunity to win prizes.

Mmm. A selection of "best" taco recipes for me to browse.